Animal Assisted Therapy

“Animals stimulate us not only by touch, but by some deeply buried aspect of nature within us, a connection to part of something greater, more healthy and more whole.” Peter Levine

I’ve read you can always find hope in a dog’s eyes and it’s certainly apparent when we go on pet therapy visits. Discounting the tactile nature of his soft fluffy fur, Sam’s connection with peeps is palpable. It’s hard not seeing him connect with people he encounters. This sweet goofy boy treats everyone he meets like they are the only one around.

Sampson is the connector. He starts off with barking or rooing at the person, and he doesn’t let up until they come over to pet him. Once that happens, they’re hooked.

We have a woman up the street that he worked on last year, a couple of weeks ago we stopped at her house for a chat and her neighbor came outside and she said, “Dave, come on over and meet the best Golden-Lab ever.” I chuckled inside. She’s stopped me walking Delilah and said, “Did our boy walk yet?” She even asked me if I’d let her know if something happened to him. It’s really quite amazing the magic they work, isn’t it?

Sam has a couple of peeps he sees on our walks and you’d think he was going to turn himself inside out getting to them. The worst part is the squealing like a little girl. At 5:30 in the morning…not so attractive. 😜

With me, it’s the eyes. One time, an older man who was an employee at a physical rehabilitation hospital started petting me, and he was smiling from ear to ear. He said I was a very special dog, and “God bless you,” to me as we left. As we walked away, the pet therapy person told Mom that was the first time that man had ever touched one of the dogs – that he was usually terrified of them.